Catching Up Before Spring Break

Next week is Spring Break in Oregon, and my daughter's bestie is coming to spend the week with us.  I'm finishing up a few odd projects so I can enjoy the time with them and not feel like I should be doing something else.  I struggle with that as it is, no need to set myself up for it.

In the crochet corner:

 This prayer shawl is for Fern, a very good friend who lost her 6 year-old grandson to one of those unexpected, freak illnesses that you can never be prepared for and have no idea how to put the pieces back together when its all over.  Thankfully, Jesus is our strength, even when the world is falling apart around us.  He is putting the pieces back into place for this beautiful family.  

Its been over a year, and I wanted to have it done for her grandson's November birthday, but having my wrist in a brace for all of October and most of November meant that it didn't get done till mid-February.  Turns out a new grandchild is due soon, so this can be a celebration shawl.  I like those kind!  I love it when God gets the last word.

This was taken at the Retreat Center the Turning Point Church ladies go to each year in March.  The pink one is Fern's, and the blue one was my contribution to the door prizes, which was won by my sister Koreen.  Its funny, because I thought of making her one, but had no idea what color to use.  I've overdone pink and yellow for her, but didn't know what to choose otherwise.  Steel blue to the rescue!  And I can check off making one for her now.  Bonus!

More scrap hats and cotton washcloths for SHOEBOXES.  I don't usually make the washcloths.  I have a few friends who like to work with cotton and they send me some for the shoeboxes whenever possible.  The rest, we just use good old Walmart's 18 pk.  For $3.47, its a bargain.

I made these two because I came into some cotton yarn and I have noone nearby who has time/skill/interest in making them up for me, so I decided to give it a go.  Not my favorite, but for the shoeboxes, I will "suffer".  

That's about it so far for 2016.  When I broke my wrist in October, 2015, I basically put everything on hold.  Getting it all back in motion again is taking time.  

NOOOOOOOOOO!

I just lost "the rest of the story".  It took a good half hour and suddenly it was gone.  Poof.  Sigh.

So here we go again:

Gioia's birthday shawl - prayed over and sent as a surprise.  My favorite way to do things.  The pattern is "Penelope" and the yarn is 100% stash of her favorite color, green.

Prayer shawl for Mary who lost her husband of over 50 years of marriage.  I chose the colors (100% stash!) because I thought they'd go well with her red hair and they'd be uplifting.  It turns out they were celebration colors.  Paul (whom I've known since I was 9) lost his wife in February - also after more than 50 years together.  Paul and Mary have been grieving and healing together, and in the process falling in love.  In their (late) 70's!  Such a gift, this thing called love! 

Prayer shawl for Kathi, who's unborn daughter passed away just 2 weeks before she was to be born.  Many tears were shed, much prayer offered, but when I gave it to her, it broke her heart all over again.  I think I should've waited just a little longer.  I bought the variegated yarn specifically for this and added the white and pink from my stash.  The pattern, like Mary's, is either "Penelope" or "Unforgettable Top Down".  I like them both and they are similar.  I just didn't take time to note as I was working on them.

All shoebox goodies!  

Bracelets - I make with all leftovers, Jodi sews the buttons on.

Crosses - goal of one per shoebox (200), currently at 60-ish.  One of those easy, portable, all scrap, projects I like to carry with me.

Pencil case - my first attempt, probably my last, all leftover yarn.

Orange/brown scarf - meant for Ohio, but ended up short, so shoeboxes it is!

More hats - because you can never have too many hats for the shoeboxes.

Lovies - mom cuts into squares, I crochet the edges.  That is, until Jodi saw them and now she's blanket stitching them for me first which makes a nice clean-looking edge and less curling.  100% stash or leftovers.

And FINALLY:

FayeAnne's "Happy Graduation" blanket draped over Grandma's chair.

And on her bed.

I'm so proud to be her Auntie.  She's an amazing young woman with more gifts than she knows.  It was tough going - school doesn't come easily for her.  But she stuck it out and proved that she is stronger than we give her credit for.   

This was a labor of love - most of the yarn was stash, although I did buy the dark purple at the thrift store specifically for her, the pattern was one of the Attic 24 granny stripe patterns.  I forget which one.

All. Caught. Up.   whew

Springtime Crochet

Lee is coming home from fire duty tomorrow!  This has been one hot, dry, fire-filled summer, and we haven't even hit August yet.  He's already been on 4 fires.  That's a record to date, and the record for an entire summer is 6, so we're on pace to break that.
I decided to take a few minutes here to share some more of my springtime projects and then I'll probably go back into hibernation for another few months.  Perhaps in September I'll have a nice stack of goodies to share again.  I'm currently working on scarves for the Red Scarf Project.

These are headed to Bridge and Beyond where they will hopefully warm some homeless folks in Ohio this next winter.  The red and white one will go to the Red Scarf Project.

Next, some catching up:

1.  Me at work on Stephen's blanket.  2. Stephen's finished blanket.  Most of the yarn for this was bought specifically for him, except for the green/white variegated, the 2 beige/white variegated, and the light turquoise.  Those were stash.

This prayer shawl was made for my friend Florence.  She asked if I would make one and it was an honor to do so.  The pattern is called "Morning Has Broken".  It seemed appropriate to the prayers that went along with the making.  The green yarn was stash, the variegated was leftover from one of the prayer shawls I made for the Turning Point ladies retreat.  You know - the ones I forgot to photograph before letting them go.

I have more, believe me.  I think I just reached the limit on space here because it won't let me upload any more pictures.

Projects and more projects

Life sure has a way of getting ahead of me sometimes.  I've made lots of goodies over the last 9 months, and even taken photos of almost all of them, but haven't taken the time to post any here.  Today its time to remedy that.  IF I don't get too many interruptions that is.  

 This is the (mostly stash yarn) blanket I made for Kimberly after I finished Stephen's.  Not sure where the pictures of Stephen's are so when I find them, I'll post them.  You know.  Later.

This prayer shawl was made yarn I found in a mill end basket at a JoAnn's in Billings, MT when Michael and I drove back from NY last year.  Super soft, but no idea on the brand/color.  Its 100% stash yarn too.  At the time I made it, I had no idea who it would go to, but I prayed that it would bless the recipient.

Eventually I gave it to my very good friend, Sherry Z, when her hubby passed away last summer.  She was thrilled to have it and told me that one of the things she had done while he was in the hospital was wander into the chapel where she found this giant shawl in a big chair.  She would wrap herself up in that shawl and feel like God's arms were holding her.  This shawl wasn't quite so big, but she has since told me she puts it over her bed at night and it reassures her that He has not forgotten her.  I'm glad to know my work is touching others.

These are two pictures of the shawl I crocheted while we traveled back from NY.  Its Red Heart's With Love yarn I had in my stash for quite a while and I didn't have a purpose for it when I made it.  Just wanted to keep working on taming the stash.

In November I donated it to the 4-H auction held at the Festival of Trees dinner.  Just a few weeks ago I found that a good friend, Nancy V., won it and she sent it to her daugher-in-law for Mother's Day.  When her grandson saw it, he declared it was meant for him and that was that.  I told her I had been praying for the recipient as I made it, and she was especially tickled because her grandson is totally in love with Jesus and at only 7 years old, she knew it would bless him to know that its a prayer shawl.  

In January and February I made 2 prayer shawls specifically for Turning Point Church's ladies' retreat, but I forgot to take a picture of them before giving them away.  The photo below shows one made from the same yarn as one of them.  It was won by Carol B., who was once-upon-a-time my Missionette's sponsor.  Kinda cool to give back so many years later.  The other one was a dark purple and green variegated and won by Shirley B, who was Kimberly's Sunday School teacher when she was in kindergarten.  

This prayer shawl was the first I've made with a specific receiver in mind.  Lisa's 28 yo son passed away suddenly and tragically in February.  It hit the entire church hard, but for Lisa, who had already lost 2 children in a car accident 27 years ago, it has been unbearable.  I wanted to do something tangible and it was all I could think to do.  

The yarn was another batch of millends found in Billings, MT.  I had 8 skeins and to date, 6 of them have become prayer shawls.  It turns out that it is I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby.  Now that we have a HL in Bend, OR, I can buy more of this oh-so-soft yarn.  And I have.

I've been careful not to buy any for "stash", but just what I need for various projects.  I have ended up with leftovers, but that doesn't really count now, does it?

Alas, there is more, but I have to make dinner and live life.  I'll get back sooner rather than later.  I promise.

It's about time?

Yes, it has been months since I last posted.  I've thought about it a few times if that helps.  So here's the short version of the last few months:

Michael and I drove back home across I-90 with a few detours like Mt. Rushmore.  If you ever get the chance to see Mt. Rushmore, I highly recommend it!  There are no words for the experience, you have to go there yourself to understand.
I'm so glad we took the "long" way.  Had 2 flat tires along the road, but they were fixed in short order and it really wasn't horrible.  If it had been August, that might have been a different story.
Once we were home, life got busy and I tucked my MB3 away for the summer.  I have pulled a few balls of  yarn out here and there to have something to work on while we traveled, but those haven't netted much in the stashbusting totals.  I have a small pile of finished bracelets for the Christmas Child boxes though and that sure feels good.

Since I don't plan on picking up the crochet for another month yet, I'm only stopping by to tell you about a giveaway at a blog I just started following.  Check it out, ok?  Crafty in the Med


And I will leave you with that.

Just a Little Something (I threw together)

Miss K spotted an adorable dress on her way home from the grocery store one day and since Easter is tomorrow, we bought it.  It screams her name if you want the truth and I'm thrilled we were able to get it.
The downside? Said dress is clearly made for summer and spring has barely arrived in this corner of eastern Oregon.  Just 3 short weeks ago there were still roads closed with snow blockades.
The upside?  Mama knows how to crochet!  Here's that little something I threw together yesterday afternoon, and finished this morning.  Its on the kitchen table being blocked to help smooth out any imperfections and make the corners nice and square.  Button closure will be added when its dry.  (That's not my fingers drumming you hear, honest!)

 Its a variation on the BRIGHT PINK shawl made earlier this spring.   For this one, I used a K hook, and on the edges instead of clusters of 3 DCs, I used 2 DCs.  It makes for a bit lacier look, and there's still plenty of warmth for springtime here.  The border is one row of a simple single crochet.  Why work harder than I have to?

Tomorrow I'll get her to model it and photos will be shared.  Because I can.

Worship practice

When Michael and Stephen were younger, I longed for the day when they'd be interested in joining in on the worship team at church.  Michael chose instead to run the sound system, and the closest Stephen got was playing drums for youth group when he was in high school.  So I've settled in to a nice comfy place at the piano, with Lee doing most of the leading and only occasionally playing guitar.  It works, but its so much better when others join in.

Saturday afternoon Kimberly asked if her and Anthony could lead on Sunday and I was more than happy to say yes!  They chose 2 songs and I chose 2, and then we went over to the church and practiced for about an hour.  It was amazing!  Anthony played guitar, I played piano, and we all 3 sang.  At times it was like it wasn't practice at all - it was just us 3 singing to the Lord.  If Lee had been there, that would've been the cherry on top.
I'm thankful for this time with my kids.

Happy Sunday!